Heungseon Daewongun: The Man Who Governed Korea From a House
He was never king. His son was, from the age of twelve, and for about ten years the father ran the country from Unhyeongung — a private residence with four gates, of which one survives. He also rebuilt Gyeongbokgung, and in 1868 ordered the seowon closed, leaving 47.
Language
Korea has five palaces in Seoul and, for about a decade in the nineteenth century, the country was not run from any of them. It was run from a house on what is now Samil-daero.
Unhyeongung is the house where Heungseon Daewongun lived, and where Gojong was born and grew up until he took the throne. When Gojong acceded, the Daewongun conducted politics here, and the residence was connected directly to the palace.
He was the king's father. He was never the king.
At a glance
A residence, not a palace
Unhyeongung was the Daewongun's private house and Gojong's pre-accession residence — and the base of his political activity.
Gojong lived here until he was twelve
The house is where the future king was born and raised before the throne.
He rebuilt Gyeongbokgung
Over about ten years of government he removed the abuses of sedo politics, reformed personnel and finance, and rebuilt the palace that had burned in the Imjin War.
Four gates, one left
At its height the residence had four great gates; only the rear gate now remains.
How a house became a seat of government
The sequence is fast and it is all in one year.
Gojong acceded on 13 December 1863. About a month later, on the grand dowager queen's instruction, building and extension work began at Unhyeongung, and Norakdang and Noandang were completed nine months after that, in September 1864. The grand dowager ordered the Ministry of Taxation to send the residence ten seom of rice and a hundred nyang every month, and provided 17,830 nyang for the construction.
A state ministry putting a private house on a monthly stipend is the constitutional situation in one line.
In the hanok, Noandang — the Daewongun's men's quarters — stands at the south front; the servants' wing runs east to west behind it; and Norakdang, the inner quarters, stands to the north. The main buildings surviving today are Noandang, Norakdang and Irodang.
The rank is written into the building itself. The ridge-beam text styles the Daewongun hapha — the honorific ranking directly below jeonha, "Your Majesty" — and says his position was the head of all civil and military officials.
Even the name is a piece of the story. Unhyeon was the name of the hill in front of the Seounkwan, the old observatory, which was renamed Gwansanggam under Sejo but went on being called by the old name. In Cheoljong's time a popular song went about that the old observatory site — Unhyeongung — held a king's aura.
What he did with about ten years
The heritage record compresses the programme into one sentence, and it is worth taking slowly.
Over some ten years of government he removed the abuses of sedo politics, carried out sweeping reforms in personnel and finance, and rebuilt Gyeongbokgung, which had burned down in the Imjin War.
Sedo politics was rule by one in-law family. Reforming personnel and finance is what breaks it. And the palace is the visible half: Gyeongbokgung had stood as a ruin since the Imjin War, and he put it back up. Most of what a visitor walks through there today is downstream of that decision.
The other half is invisible unless you go to Andong. In 1868 he ordered the seowon abolished — and Byeongsan Seowon is recorded as one of the 47 that remained.
Forty-seven left standing is the measure of the edict. The seowon were the local power base of the scholar class; closing them was the same project as breaking the in-law families, aimed at a different target. Byeongsan Seowon is one of the places where you can stand inside the exception.
A wedding, and a gate for one person
On 21 March 1866, in Gojong's third year, the wedding of Gojong and Empress Myeongseong was held at Unhyeongung, with all the preparations made in Norakdang. It is recorded that 1,641 attendants and 700 fine horses were mobilised for it.
A royal wedding held at the father's house rather than at a palace tells you where the centre of gravity was in 1866.
The traffic between the two was formalised in architecture. At its height the residence had four great gates — the main gate, the rear gate, Gyeonggeunmun and Gonggeunmun — and Gyeonggeunmun was the gate Gojong used exclusively, standing between Changdeokgung and Unhyeongung. The original site lay midway between Changdeokgung and Gyeongbokgung.
Of the four gates, only the rear gate now remains.
What is missing when you visit
This is a site best understood by what is not there, and the record is unusually frank about it.
Part of the former grounds is now used by Duksung Women's University and there are broadcasting facilities on it. Because of this, Ajaedang — which the Daewongun liked to use — was demolished, and Yeonghwaru and the shrines of Prince Eunsin and Prince Namyeon have all disappeared.
The Historic Site designation itself combines two different things: the Daewongun's house, and a Western-style building put up in the 1910s that served as the main hall of Duksung Women's University. A nineteenth-century power base and a colonial-era college building, under one designation.
Yeongnodang, where his eldest son Yi Jae-myeon and his wife lived, was also part of the residence — and is now a separate property under a different owner.
Ownership came back to the family in 1948 by a document of the US military government, and on 21 September that year it was confirmed to Yi Cheong, the Daewongun's fifth-generation descendant.
So the courtyard you walk is a fragment. Knowing the four gates, the demolished hall and the two vanished shrines is what turns a small tidy compound back into the place a country was governed from.
Stand in Noandang and look south, then walk to Gyeongbokgung. The men's quarters at the front of the house is where the business was done; the palace he rebuilt is a walk away. Doing them in that order — house first, palace second — is the order the nineteenth century actually happened in.
Places connected to the Daewongun
Frequently asked questions
Was Heungseon Daewongun a king?
No. He was the father of King Gojong. Unhyeongung was his private residence, and when his son acceded he conducted politics from there for about ten years, with the house connected directly to the palace.
Why is a private house called a 'gung'?
It is Gojong's pre-accession residence — the house a future king grew up in, where he lived until he was twelve. The name Unhyeon comes from the hill in front of the old Seounkwan observatory, and in Cheoljong's time a popular song claimed the site held a king's aura.
What did he actually change?
The heritage record says that over about ten years he removed the abuses of sedo politics, made sweeping reforms in personnel and finance, and rebuilt Gyeongbokgung, which had burned in the Imjin War.
What was the 1868 seowon edict?
An order abolishing the seowon, the local Neo-Confucian academies. Its scale is legible from the exceptions: Byeongsan Seowon in Andong is recorded as one of the 47 that remained.
Why does Unhyeongung look small?
Because much of it is gone. Part of the grounds is used by Duksung Women's University and by broadcasting facilities; Ajaedang was demolished and Yeonghwaru and two family shrines have disappeared. Of the four great gates it once had, only the rear gate remains.
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Last verified:
Official sources
- Fact check: Korea Heritage Portal — Historic Site: Unhyeongung, Seoul (designated 22 November 1977, 16,646 square metres, late Joseon; the house where Heungseon Daewongun lived and where Gojong was born and grew up until he took the throne; the designation combines the Daewongun's house with a Western-style building newly built in the 1910s and used as the main hall of Duksung Women's University; in the hanok, Noandang, the Daewongun's men's quarters, stands at the south front, the servants' wing runs east to west behind it and Norakdang, the inner quarters, stands to the north; when Gojong acceded the Daewongun conducted politics here and the residence was connected directly to the palace; over some ten years of government he removed the abuses of sedo politics, carried out sweeping reforms in personnel and finance, and rebuilt Gyeongbokgung, which had burned in the Imjin War; part of the site is now used by Duksung Women's University and there are broadcasting facilities, and because of this Ajaedang, which the Daewongun liked to use, was demolished and Yeonghwaru and the shrines of Prince Eunsin and Prince Namyeon have all disappeared; renamed from Unhyeongung to Seoul Unhyeongung by notice of 28 July 2011)
- Fact check: Unhyeongung — the history of Unhyeongung (Historic Site 257, Samil-daero, Jongno-gu, Seoul; Gojong's pre-accession residence and the Daewongun's private house, and the base of his political activity; Gojong lived here until he was twelve; the name Unhyeon was that of the hill in front of the Seounkwan, which was renamed Gwansanggam under Sejo but still went by the old name, and in Cheoljong's time a popular song circulated that the old observatory site held a king's aura; construction and extension began about a month after Gojong's accession on 13 December 1863 by order of the grand dowager queen, and Norakdang and Noandang were completed nine months later in September 1864, with the grand dowager ordering the Ministry of Taxation to send ten seom of rice and a hundred nyang monthly and providing 17,830 nyang for the works; the main surviving buildings are Noandang, Norakdang and Irodang, while Yeongnodang, where the eldest son Yi Jae-myeon and his wife lived, was also part of the residence; the original site lay midway between Changdeokgung and Gyeongbokgung; at its height there were four great gates — the main gate, the rear gate, Gyeonggeunmun and Gonggeunmun — of which only the rear gate now remains, Gyeonggeunmun having been the gate Gojong used exclusively, between Changdeokgung and Unhyeongung; the wedding of Gojong and Empress Myeongseong was held here on 21 March 1866, all preparations made in Norakdang, with 1,641 attendants and 700 horses mobilised; the ridge-beam text styles the Daewongun 'hapha', the honorific below 'jeonha', and calls his rank the head of all civil and military officials; ownership returned to his descendants by a US military government document in 1948 and was confirmed on 21 September that year to Yi Cheong, his fifth-generation descendant)
- Fact check: Korea Heritage Portal — Historic Site: Byeongsan Seowon, Andong (recorded as one of the 47 seowon that remained after the Daewongun's edict abolishing seowon in 1868)